Some critics unimpressed with Shanghai FTZ negative list cuts

BEIJING - The Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has cut down the number of restrictions on its “negative list” for foreign investment following Government pledges to woo investors, but critics say the changes are not very meaningful. Although the new list does contain fewer items, critics say that of 51 items that have been eliminated, only 14 correspond to areas where foreign investments were prohibited or permitted with conditions attached.

The list included 14 items that are prohibited by Chinese law to both foreign and Chinese investments and thus did not have to be repeated on the Shanghai list. Another 23 on the list were consolidated with similar items. A few areas even saw some restrictions tightened, and the revision failed to address several more pressing issues.

One of these is that Chinese investors must hold at least 50% of the shares in a joint-venture firm that manufactures automobiles and special purpose motor vehicles. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).